Toshiba 56HM66 DLP Issues

[Calculon]

I have a Toshiba 56HM66 DLP TV that I got about three and half years ago. I have a couple questions. First, the seems to be some flicker on the screen, where the brightness flickers. Would this be indicative of needing a new bulb? It's seen fairly light usage, so who knows.

Second, I hooked a HTPC to the screen and I noticed for the first time, the output is slightly rhombus shaped. If it fits at the top it's slightly too big on the bottom and vice versa, if fits at the bottom, it's too small at the top. Is this normal or can it fixed? I bought a five year warranty with the TV. Is this something they would fix or would it fall outside the warranty. I never noticed it before, but I only had my PS3 and DVD player hooked up. Thanks for any help.

 

[jostenmeat]

I have a Toshiba 56HM66 DLP TV that I got about three and half years ago. I have a couple questions. First, the seems to be some flicker on the screen, where the brightness flickers. Would this be indicative of needing a new bulb? It's seen fairly light usage, so who knows.

It could be the bulb. I might even say probably is the bulb. That TV looks to be over 4 years old, and even with light usage, do I think it can benefit from a new bulb. Remember, even if the hours are not all that great, every time it is cycled on/off takes life off the bulb as well. General thought on that is 20 minutes of life killed for every cycle.

Second, I hooked a HTPC to the screen and I noticed for the first time, the output is slightly rhombus shaped. If it fits at the top it's slightly too big on the bottom and vice versa, if fits at the bottom, it's too small at the top. Is this normal or can it fixed? I bought a five year warranty with the TV. Is this something they would fix or would it fall outside the warranty. I never noticed it before, but I only had my PS3 and DVD player hooked up. Thanks for any help.

This is called display bowing. It is a known problem with flimsier plastic RPTVs, and even more common with the slimmer/lighter models I think. The structure of the TV/screen itself is simply not perfectly flat/rigid. I cannot guarantee that this is what is causing your display bowing, but this is the most common geometry issue with DLP RPTVs.

I hope that helps.

 

[Calculon]

Yes, it was helpful. I guess I'll be searching for a new bulb, My main question would be is the bowing effect something that could be fixed under the warranty I have, which I understand you don't have a copy of, but it's one from a warranty company, not Toshiba. I guess I could call and ask, but I was hoping someone here would know. Thanks for the reply.

 

[bandphan]

The HTPC issues might be related in the output settings. Can you go into detail about them and the connection?

 

[Calculon]

I think there's multiple issues going on here. My PS3, 360 and DVD player all seem to do fine. The specs on my HTPC are:

45W AMD CPU
ASrock A785GMH/128M Board w/HDMI and Optical Outputs
1.5 and 2TB Drive
Linux 10.04
Hooked up via HDMI

I'm running Linux on the machine right now, but it exhibited the same behavior when I had Windows on there too. I have another HTPC box that's very similar. I hooked it up, but I couldn't get the ATI drivers installed so I couldn't scale the output and it was oversized. Could my setup be doing me in? Thanks for the reply.

 

[bandphan]

Are you loading the drivers from the ati disc or are they downloaded. What is the current output resolution?

 

[Calculon]

I'm downloaded the latest proprietary ATI Linux drivers. The resolution is set to 1280x720, which is what I thought it should be since it's a 720p TV. I would note that at one point I did have Windows on the machine and it exhibited the same mowing behavior. Thanks for the reply.

 

[bandphan]

I'm downloaded the latest proprietary ATI Linux drivers. The resolution is set to 1280x720, which is what I thought it should be since it's a 720p TV. I would note that at one point I did have Windows on the machine and it exhibited the same mowing behavior. Thanks for the reply.

You might want to try to go into the ATI menu and play with the over/underscan features; trying on or off then a manual slider adjustment.

 

[Calculon]

Thanks for the reply. That's what I did. As I said because the output is slightly rhombus shaped, it either fits the top, but is slightly over sized on the bottom or fits the bottom, but doesn't fill the top of the screen. That gets me kind of back to my original question, which was is the bowing effect something that can be fixed under the warranty. I don't know and was hoping someone here might have some information on that one. Thanks again.

 

[bandphan]

Thanks for the reply. That's what I did. As I said because the output is slightly rhombus shaped, it either fits the top, but is slightly over sized on the bottom or fits the bottom, but doesn't fill the top of the screen. That gets me kind of back to my original question, which was is the bowing effect something that can be fixed under the warranty. I don't know and was hoping someone here might have some information on that one. Thanks again.

I doubt it is warranty issue just an FYI

 

[Calculon]

Thanks for the reply. I kind of got sidetracked. Is there any chance it's my graphics card that's messing things up? I noticed the bowing in both Windows and Linux. I don't think the chance is good, but I thought I'd ask. Thanks again.